The Cotton Bowl was conceived by Dallas oilman J. Curtis Sanford. The first game was played in 1937. After the 1940 game, a group of Dallas citizens acquired control of the game and named themselves the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association, which later that year became an agency of the Southwest Conference. It was the only bowl game controlled and operated by a single athletic conference until the Southwest Conference disbanded in 1996. Formerly one of the four most prestigious bowl games, the Cotton Bowl lost that status in the 1990s when the College Bowl Coalition and then the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) replaced it with the Fiesta Bowl. In 2014 it once again became one of the premier bowl games in the country when it was included in the six-bowl rotation (along with the Fiesta, Orange, Peach, Rose, and Sugar bowls) to host the semifinals of the College Football Playoff.

A list of Cotton Bowl results is provided in the table.

Cotton Bowl*

season

result

1936–37

Texas Christian

16

Marquette

6

1937–38

Rice

28

Colorado

14

1938–39

St. Mary’s (Calif.)

20

Texas Tech

13

1939–40

Clemson

6

Boston College

3

1940–41

Texas A&M

13

Fordham

12

1941–42

Alabama

29

Texas A&M

21

1942–43

Texas

14

Georgia Tech

7

1943–44

Randolph Field

7

Texas

7

1944–45

Oklahoma State

34

Texas Christian

0

1945–46

Texas

40

Missouri

27

1946–47

Arkansas

0

Louisiana State

0

1947–48

Penn State

13

Southern Methodist

13

1948–49

Southern Methodist

21

Oregon

13

1949–50

Rice

27

North Carolina

13

1950–51

Tennessee

20

Texas

14

1951–52

Kentucky

20

Texas Christian

7

1952–53

Texas

16

Tennessee

0

1953–54

Rice

28

Alabama

6

1954–55

Georgia Tech

14

Arkansas

6

1955–56

Mississippi

14

Texas Christian

13

1956–57

Texas Christian

28

Syracuse

27

1957–58

Navy

20

Rice

7

1958–59

Air Force

0

Texas Christian

0

1959–60

Syracuse

23

Texas

14

1960–61

Duke

7

Arkansas

6

1961–62

Texas

12

Mississippi

7

1962–63

Louisiana State

13

Texas

0

1963–64

Texas

28

Navy

6

1964–65

Arkansas

10

Nebraska

7

1965–66

Louisiana State

14

Arkansas

7

1966–67

Georgia

24

Southern Methodist

9

1967–68

Texas A&M

20

Alabama

16

1968–69

Texas

36

Tennessee

13

1969–70

Texas

21

Notre Dame

17

1970–71

Notre Dame

24

Texas

11

1971–72

Penn State

30

Texas

6

1972–73

Texas

17

Alabama

13

1973–74

Nebraska

19

Texas

3

1974–75

Penn State

41

Baylor

20

1975–76

Arkansas

31

Georgia

10

1976–77

Houston

30

Maryland

21

1977–78

Notre Dame

38

Texas

10

1978–79

Notre Dame

35

Houston

34

1979–80

Houston

17

Nebraska

14

1980–81

Alabama

30

Baylor

2

1981–82

Texas

14

Alabama

12

1982–83

Southern Methodist

7

Pittsburgh

3

1983–84

Georgia

10

Texas

9

1984–85

Boston College

45

Houston

28

1985–86

Texas A&M

36

Auburn

16

1986–87

Ohio State

28

Texas A&M

12

1987–88

Texas A&M

35

Notre Dame

10

1988–89

UCLA

17

Arkansas

3

1989–90

Tennessee

31

Arkansas

27

1990–91

Miami (Fla.)

46

Texas

3

1991–92

Florida State

10

Texas A&M

2

1992–93

Notre Dame

28

Texas A&M

3

1993–94

Notre Dame

24

Texas A&M

21

1994–95

Southern California

55

Texas Tech

14

1995–96

Colorado

38

Oregon

6

1996–97

Brigham Young

19

Kansas State

15

1997–98

UCLA

29

Texas A&M

23

1998–99

Texas

38

Mississippi State

11

1999–2000

Arkansas

27

Texas

6

2000–01

Kansas State

35

Tennessee

21

2001–02

Oklahoma

10

Arkansas

3

2002–03

Texas

35

Louisiana State

20

2003–04

Mississippi

31

Oklahoma State

28

2004–05

Tennessee

38

Texas A&M

7

2005–06

Alabama

13

Texas Tech

10

2006–07

Auburn

17

Nebraska

14

2007–08

Missouri

38

Arkansas

7

2008–09

Mississippi

47

Texas Tech

34

2009–10

Mississippi

21

Oklahoma State

7

2010–11

Louisiana State

41

Texas A&M

24

2011–12

Arkansas

29

Kansas State

16

2012–13

Texas A&M

41

Oklahoma

13

2013–14

Missouri

41

Oklahoma State

31

2014–15

Michigan State

42

Baylor

41

2015–16**

Alabama

38

Michigan State

0

2016–17

Wisconsin

24

Western Michigan

16

Learn More in these related articles:

version of the sport of football so named for the vertical yard lines marking the rectangular field. Gridiron football evolved from English rugby and soccer (association football); it differs from soccer chiefly in allowing players to touch, throw, and carry the ball with their hands, and it...

former American collegiate athletic organization founded in 1914 with eight members: the University of Arkansas, Baylor University, the University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Agriculture and Mining College (now Oklahoma State University), William Marsh Rice Institute (now Rice University), Southwestern...

former arrangement of five American college postseason gridiron football games that annually determined the national champion. The games involved were the Rose Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Fiesta Bowl, and the BCS National Championship Game. In 2014 the BCS was replaced by the College...